1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for high performance packet filtering in a communication network environment such as token ring, ATM, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet environment. Moreover, the present invention can be applied to any packet based media environment. In particular, the present invention relates to a packet filter and a method for filtering a packet that can be implemented on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In networking applications, an incoming packet enters an ingress port of a network component, such as a switch, wherein the network component processes the incoming packet and directs it to an egress port. In processing the incoming packet, the network component can examine the incoming packet on the ingress side of the network component, and can determine addressing and routing information to enhance network performance.
The network component can apply addressing and processing logic to the incoming packet.